Melting Ice
by faecree
Summary: TEASER - Suzaku was burning hot. He was kind, honest, brave... persistent, and unlike anyone Lelouch had ever met before. However, as usual the prince knew it was critical that he keep his distance. After all, he had already frozen over a long, long time ago, and everyone knows what happens when fire meets ice. (suzalulu, AU, future one-shot)
1. Melting Ice

**Melting Ice**

Lelouch had always seemed to stick out at Ashford Academy.

He never really understood what the big deal was himself, but since his first day at the prestigious school he had been the subject of excessive gossip. Not that teenagers didn't do such a thing often enough as it was, but the amount of staring and whispering that went on around him was just absurd. After all, from where Lelouch stood (which was primarily the side lines) he wasn't anyone worthy of being watched. He was just another high school student.

Sure, he was the 11th Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, which happened to be the strongest nation in the world, but that didn't make him inhuman. He still had flaws, he was still just a teenager. Not to mention, Ashford was a learning center for the children of the elite, the nobleman, the rich. If anything these were the sort people who should be used to the sight of royalty.

And sure, maybe Lelouch had perfect marks in every subject without even having to attend class most days. However, as far he was concerned school was a breeze if you knew how to approach it correctly. Besides, it wasn't as if he was some sort of genius! Maybe he was practically undefeated at chess, and maybe he sometimes used words and phrases that his peers didn't always understand, but that was just...

Okay, maybe Lelouch was a genius, but still human.

And another thing!

The entirety of the school seemed to be on a constant mission to get into his pants! Boys, girls, it didn't even matter!

Everyone agreed upon it really, at this point it was just fact; Lelouch Vi Britannia was the most sought after boy on campus. And what didn't help at all was the fact that no one had been able to make him crack. Instead of giving up on him whenever he rejected someone, everyone else decided to take it as a challenge.

More often than not women were attracted to the idea of being a princess of course, on the off chance they ended up married in the future that was. Men, on the other hand, were usually drawn to his abnormally feminine face, which was nothing if not a mortifying thing to admit.

Because of all this however, Lelouch had a strict policy; he refused to ever be alone with just one person unless they were family or one of the few exceptions like C.C. or Rivalz or most of the student council. After all, he knew for certain that they weren't out to get him.

The reason for the policy? That was simple. This way no one could ever misunderstand the situation and think of it as a date.

It stopped problems from occurring before they were even created.

Lelouch bristled at the thought.

He was strolling through the grounds of Ashford leisurely that day. As per usual, the boy was forsaking history in favor of locating a nice, secluded tree to nap beneath, but all of his typical spots were occupied. Unfortunately, as the year was coming to an end, many of the seniors no longer had class in the afternoon, thus denying Lelouch the isolation he craved.

The sun was high in the sky and even though the trees had shed all of their petals the air still smelled of spring flowers. Most people would've called it the perfect day, but for someone as pale skinned and delicate as this particular boy the heat of the sun beating down on his black head of hair was just too much.

Lelouch sighed loudly, wiping the sweat from his hairline with the back of his hand. He'd had enough searching, he decided silently, and began heading back towards the boys' dorm to sleep in his own bed instead.

As soon as he opened the door to the brick building the prince was hit by a wave of air conditioning, wrapping around him in a cold embrace.

"Skipping again, Your Highness?"

Lelouch turned to face his teacher with an innocent smile.

"Of course not, Mr. Witte," he assured convincingly. "I simply forgot my textbook in my room."

The man before him was the dorm supervisor (and consequently a literature teacher who he'd never actually had any classes with). Unfortunately, he knew of the prince's ways of deception however, so he was not easily swayed.

He pursed his lips.

"Oh, I see," Mr. Witte said , feigning ignorance. "If that's the case then you won't mind running an errand for me on your way back."

Lelouch's perfect demeanor twitched in irritation.

"Of course," he forced out in a grossly sweet tone.

"You're in 306, correct?" the teacher asked. "There is a new student currently unpacking in 314. He should be done anytime now; escort him to his first class when he is. He's in Mrs. Bungard's Science II this period."

The boy accidentally tsked in response, obviously unhappy with the indirect punishment he was under-going.  
"That's not a problem, is it?" Mr. Witte pressed.

"No," Lelouch said, though his voice clearly revealed his lie. "Of course not."

"Good."

And with that the infuriating man left.

The prince glowered and began heading towards the elevator once the exchange had reached its conclusion. Really, it had always bothered him the way his teachers were required to use a title when speaking to him. The worst part was that most of them considered it an insult to have to place a student above themselves, even if he was an heir to the throne of their "great nation." So when they addressed him in that way it was often bitter and sarcastic.

It wasn't as if Lelouch had demanded it. Hell, he didn't even want the damn title in the first place! No one had any reason to take out their frustrations on him.

The elevator pinged and opened its doors to the third floor then, shaking the boy from his thoughts if only momentarily.

Heading the opposite direction of his own dorm, Lelouch went straight towards room 314. He could tell from down the hall which one it was simply because the door was slightly ajar.

Peaking around the door frame, Lelouch came upon the sight of the back of a head of curly brown hair. The other boy was down on his knees in front of a dresser as he put away his clothing, all the while humming some tune that the prince couldn't say he recognized from anywhere.

After waiting a moment he coughed to get the stranger's attention.

The boy responded instantaneously, turning around and jumping to his feet in one fluid motion. Lelouch was suddenly looking into large, green eyes.

"Uh... can I help you?" the brunette asked with a rather potent accent.

Lelouch knew at once that he was Japanese.

"I'm showing you to your class," he replied plainly. Then with a huff he added, "though I don't see why I should have to... there is such a thing as a school map."

The newcomer looked mildly taken aback.

"Um, thanks?" he said uncertainly. "I'm Kuru... err, Suzaku Kururugi."

Lelouch crossed his arms and rested his back against the wall, giving the other a sideways glance.

"Lelouch," he supplied flatly.

"Just Lelouch?" Suzaku prompted, cracking a smile.

"Just Lelouch," he confirmed.

Though in truth, the prince was only with holding his name for the sake of his sanity. After all, most people bombarded him with questions and requests the moment they knew of his royal title. This, of course, had always pissed his off without fail. Some of the things people asked of him were completely bizarre and rather impossible a lot of the time anyway, he wasn't just waving they off for no reason.

"Ah," the other continued. "It's probably really inconvenient to have no surname, huh? Although with a unique name like Lelouch I guess it wouldn't really matter."

For a second Lelouch thought the guy was an invalid, but when he tore his eyes away from the ugly cream and gold colored carpet of the dorms he saw that Suzaku was smiling and realized he had been making a joke.

"Hm," he replied, but otherwise said nothing.

The Japanese boy furrowed his brows.

"You're kinda cold," he stated. "I wouldn't doubt it if the girls at this school like to call you _Ice Prince_ or something..."

Lelouch's eye twitched in irritation when the hammer hit the nail on the head.

"Bite your tongue!" he spat. "I'm here to play chaperone for you so stop making unnecessary comments and hurry up so we can get this over with already."

Suzaku, for his part, look dumbfounded.

"Uh, sorry," he sputtered. "I didn't mean to..."

Lelouch cut him off with a heated glare.

"Right... sorry..."

* * *

**AN**: so here's the teaser for "Melting Ice" ...uh idk how long this one is gonna be but either way itll be a one shot... it could be up to 10k words by the end though, who knows? anyway, since my laptop is still out of commission and i can't finish the next chapter of "Lost Kitten" yet i wanted to start work on this story in the meantime. i started writing it tudesday, so two days ago, and i would have more done if i didn't have to go back and proof read everything over and over since im obsessive about that sort of thing.


	2. UPDATES

**Update (July 8th)**:

hey guys!

this isnt a real update of course, just an author's note, but i wanted anyone who is following this story to know that im working really hard to get it done ASAP

since the teaser this story has been tweaked and stretched and now it is roughly twice as long as what you can read here online so far... i posted this on the 19th of june and my goal is to finish it before august, but i wanted it to be around 10k words (as i said before) and since introducing milly to the plot i seem to have caught a serious case of writer's block.

if i cant finish before august i will try to post the full, completed, and edited version by the end of that month.

and even if it takes to september or even longer than that i promise that this story will definitely be posted here sooner of later, because its actually really fun to write and i wanna share it w/ my favorite fandom!

anyway, thanks for reading and pls stay tuned for more!

- fae


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